Archive for the ‘Human Security’

Blast Outside Eastern University Batticaloa

Regarding the blast right outside the Eastern University in Batticaloa Vantharumoolai at around 11.30am yesterday, about 15 km north of Batticaloa town, the information I have heard is that there were around 200 students inside the University when the blast occurred. The rest of the students, around 1100 had returned to their home districts such as Jaffna, Vavuniya and other areas after exams. The blast killed 11 including 1 student, while 4 students were injured. Sometimes the army opens fire into surrounding areas in such instances. One reason is that they want to secure the area for those who are involved in rescue and attending to wounded and defend against the enemy. Sometimes the LTTE can detonate one claymore and then wait and detonate a second one to target rescue groups. Occasionally some soldiers might also fire with revenge in mind. No one was injured in shooting yesterday. I have not received any information to the effect that there was…

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A Look Into A Village In Kalutara

My recent visits to the coastal village of Nalarua in the district of Kalutara, about 5 kilometres from Kalutara town, got me thinking about life in the south. 450 families live in that village. I spoke to eight men and seven women on a Tuesday morning. Religion-wise 97% of them were Buddhist, 2% Catholic and 1% Muslim. They work as masons, carpenters, craftsmen working with coconut fibre to make ropes and small boats and others as garment factory workers. Their political affiliations are with parties such as the SLFP, UNP, JVP and JHU. I asked one of the middle-aged men asked whether there were any caste issues in their village. “We don’t have any caste issues, we are all Sinhalese living peacefully. For example one-day the temple was affected by an electric fire. We all got together and controlled the fire,” he said. While the people seemed very keen to not talk about any caste issues, my inquiries in the…

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42 People Surrender at Jaffna Human Rights Commission

42 people have surrended at the Human Rights Commission Jaffna office so far. They were facing death threats. HRC officials produced them before Jaffna Magistrate and the Magistrate ordered that they be sent to prison for their saftey. Some of them said that escaped while gunmen tried to kidnap them, while others gave statements that they escaped while gunmen tried to shoot them. From what I am told by people here, Military Intelligence, LTTE, Para Military are involved but most of them are threatened by MI or Para Military (white van people)

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Double standards?

A post here points to a powerful new report on the dangers on humanitarian aid work in Sri Lanka and elsewhere. Reports in Groundviews, both from Citizen Journalists as well as news snippets from JNW featured on the site, clearly indicate growing concerns about the security and safety of aid workers, increasingly assaulting, vilified and killed for being perceived to be partial to non-state actors, biased towards operations of terrorists and / or acting to undermine the “national security” of the State. This is the first report I’ve read that comprehensively debunks the myth that local INGO / NGO / staff and humanitarian aid workers are any less vulnerable to attacks. As it notes: Humanitarian organisations have largely failed to fully consider the ethics of transferring security risks from expatriate staff to national staff or local NGOs. One of the core assumptions of remote management approaches is that national workers are at less risk than their international counterparts. But this…

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The Death of a Priest

Writing through shackles – Notes of a Citizen Journalist I my column for Ravaya & Groundviews this week I explore the killing of a citizen, a priest, in Jaffna. The manner in which it which it was reported in the Sinhala media, and the occurrence of similar killings elsewhere in the country, I argue is indicative of the dire peril we are facing with regard to human rights and human dignity in Sri Lanka. Read the full article here -  The Death of a Priest

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Abandoned War Displaced People From Border Villages

The people who are displaced from border villages in the east face many problems. However other communities get assistances through some NGO’s or CBO’s (community base organization) than the Singhalese communities. Specially Sinhalese people from Ampara face bias in assistance with no voice or eye focusing on their worries and I would like to focus on this in this report. In the eastern province, since 1983, over 100 villages with people from all three communities were destroyed or villagers were displaced due to the civil war between the LTTE and government. Villages, which were in LTTE-controlled area as well as on the borderline, were affected. Villages in government-controlled area were less affected. After Black July of 1983, there was displacement of the Singhalese community from the eastern province such as from Batticaloa, Muhathuvaram, Kalkudha, Mankerni, Pullu malai area etc. In Trincomalee villages from Kantale, Somapura were affected. In Ampara areas of Karadianaru, Pullumalai and Badulla people in border villages were…

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Jaffna People Back To Barter Business

Jaffna people back to age-old barter business. After the land route closed all the things distributed through the MPCS including milk powder. Last week one packet of milk powder was issued to a family. The milk powder stock is not enough. A person got baby milk, but he needed full cream milk powder, while another person had full cream milk but he needed baby milk powder. Both of them exchanged. Another person had nestomalt but he needed milk powder to prepare tea so he exchanged it with a person who had milk but his Doctor had adviced him to take nestomalt since he had an attack of chikun kunniya. House rent advertisements published in Jaffna newspapers have also changed. After the cease fire agreement some advertisements published in Jaffna newspapers were for houses wanted in the municipal council limits. Now the advertisements publish houses for rent. After the CFA people came back to their homes in Jaffna, those who settled…

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The Costs and Consequences of ‘Clearing’ the East

From Morning Leader – 10th January 2007 Last week this column ended with the statement that there was a lot to be learnt and unlearnt in 2007. The new year is now with us and with it the unfolding of an endgame. As to who will be left standing and how and as to how long it will take remains to be seen. The point about the learning and unlearning remains, however. Last year saw an escalation of violence resulting in civilian misery through death, displacement and abduction that put us down there in the catalogue of human suffering with Darfur, Palestine and Lebanon. Presidential commissions, international eminent persons, food consignments from Colombo and Chennai, pseudo -patriotic vitriol and diatribes against the Norwegian facilitators, the SLMM, Ambassador Alan Rock, NGOs and INGOs cannot erase or obscure this fact. The war began and with little regard for human rights and basic humanitarian norms. And on the evidence of the indiscriminate bombing…

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Human displacement

Two posts on DBS Jeyraj’s blog highlight aspects of the humanitarian crisis in the North and the East already flagged here. Civilians in Vaakarai face death and starvation Displaced Tamils face difficulties in B’caloa Coupled with the severe displacement of civilians on account of the recent landslides in the Hill Country, Sri Lanka in 2007 seems ill-geared to handle human displacement of this magnitude. Important to remember however, is that while landslides are natural disasters, the current displacement in the North and East is the result of a botched peace process, which shows no signs of resurrection this year.

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Amidst shackles – Notes of a citizen journalist

An article, in Sinhala, on the bombing of Mannar and the general decline of human rights in Sri Lanka. Read the full article here.

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Sri Lanka – Images of a divided nation

An article, in Sinhala, based on the findings of Social Indicator’s Peace Confidence Index, first published in Mawbima on 7th January 2007. Read the full article here.

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Daily Security Report from UN – The plight of the North & East

Got this in my email today – paints a bleak picture of the North and East of Sri Lanka. Don’t know to whom this situation update goes to, but I’m sure there must be many like it that collaborate the findings noted in this report. Security situation is tense and the level of threat is high in the areas where fighting occurs in the North and East, including in the districts of Killinochchi and Mulathivu due to possible air strikes. Exchange of shelling between the LTTE and the SLA continues. Security is tightened in towns with large presence of military and Police. Restriction of movements into the affected areas is still in force in Jaffna and essential movements are only allowed into the LTTE controlled areas in the East with the approval of ASC. Protest demonstrations have been organised by the Muslim community after the prayers in the Muslim areas in the Eastern Coastal (sic). Most of the shops are…

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Bus bombs

The south is in turmoil after bombs in buses. Allegedly the work of the LTTE, it’s bringing home, once again, the terror & anxiety that many of us thought we had left behind after the Ceasefire Agreement in 2002. Over 20 people have died in the two attacks, scores injured. Once again, civilians are the target of choice – and not just in the North and East. While its doubtful whether investigations into these bombings will ever find the culprits and hold them accountable under the law, the bombings have re-ignited the debate on combating terrorism in Sri Lanka and how we should respond to these attacks. For over 25 years we’ve been talking about this issue, and these bombings, and incidents like Kebbitigollawa in the past, demonstrate just how little progress we’ve made at ensuring a) human security for Sri Lanka’s citizens, irrespective of caste, ethnicity or religion b) formulating a solution that’s sustainable & just as a response…

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Review of “Ethnic Warfare in Sri Lanka and the UN Crisis” by William Clarance

Speaking in early December 2006 to an assorted group of representatives from local and international humanitarian agencies in Colombo, I began my speech with the most virulent expletives imaginable.  I then enquired as to why cuss-words are considered impolite, when we blithely utter words that describe a reality far more abhorrent – such as IDPs, refugees, conflict. The situation in Sri Lanka today is unfortunately one in which the full gamut of excuses and alibis, from national security to political correctness and caution, are run to evade the responsibility of basic human decency and rights protection. The employment of language that shocked, to illustrate the real obscenity that constitutes egregious human rights violations and violations of humanitarian standards in Sri Lanka and drew attention to the imperative of action in respect of preventing such abuses, was fortunately understood by those present. Accordingly, it is with great interest that I picked up a copy of “Ethnic Warfare in Sri Lanka and…

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Human Shields In The Battle Of Sri Lanka

The SLMM in a statement on Dec 12 said they are concerned over the alarming situation in Vakarai. They pointed to the LTTE failing to protect civilians by restricting their movement, and the SLMM being refused access by the army due to security reasons. People are questioning whether there is human security in Sri Lanka, especially in North-East war affected areas, where civilians live as human shields, whether they are willing to or not. Behind this there are many political issues for both the government and LTTE. In the past, the UN, SLMM, and human rights organizations have failed to take effective steps to stop this. They only issue statements condemning both parties some times. Closure of A9 highway to Jaffna and A15 to Vaharai has created many problems such as food shortages, other basic needs and lack of security for civilians. While the human shield issue is the face of the problem, there are other issues behind it. This…

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About Groundviews

Located at the Centre for Policy Alternatives in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Groundviews is a citizen journalism website that uses a range of genres and media to highlight critical perspectives on governance, reconciliation, human rights, the arts and literature, democracy and other issues. The site has won two international awards, including the prestigious Manthan Award South Asia in 2009. The grand jury's evaluation of the site noted, "What no media dares to report, Groundviews publicly exposes. It's a new age media for a new Sri Lanka... Free media at it's very best!"

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